Improvement in steam-generators



NI-T'ED STATES EEicE.

PATENT JOSEPH NAsoN AND DAVID SAUNDEES, OE NEw YOEK, AssreNoEs To. JosEPH NAsoN-AND H; E. WOETHINGTON, OE iEvrNe-TON, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-GNERATORS.

Specification forming part of Lottrrs Patent No. 104,188, dated June 14, 1870.

.To @M whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that we, JOSEPH NAsoN and DAVID SAUNDEES, of the city and county of y New York, in the State of New York, have Ve make our boiler entirely of cast-iron,

and so form and arrange the parts that the boilers are successfully and easily constructed, are Strong, and give promise of great durability. Ve introduce circulating pipes, which may be of sheet-iron or other` thin material, so as to provide for a very active circulation of thewater and an efficient utilization of all the available heating-surface.

We will first describe what we consider the best means of carrying out our invention,and will afterward designate the points which we believe to be new therein.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a longitudinal section of a boiler and steam-drum adapted to generate steam; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same on the line s sin Fig. 1. Fig. Slis a horizontal section of the same through the fire-place and smoke-chamber; Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional view of one of the tubes and a portion of the feeder to which it is attached; Fig. '5, a crosssection of the tubes; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section of our boiler adapted for simply heating water, being without the steam-drum; Fig. 7, atransverse section of the same through the smoke-chamber; Fig. 8, a horizontal Section through the fire-place and smoke-chamber. It will be observed it is much like Fig. 3, but without the upright circulating-pipe.

Similar letters of reference refer to corresponding parts in all the iigures.

ment of these parts and theirv disposition around and beyond the fire, and we combine the parts thus arranged and disposed with a steam drum or reservoir in orde-r to adapt thelnto the generation of steam; but we do not claim these features except in the combinations set forth below.

Ve will first describe that part of our invention which relates to boilers for generating steam, and which is shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3.

A is a iiat rectangular-chambered vessel, which serves as a general receptacle or feeder. It has aninlet-pipe, B, at the'bottom and an out,- let-pipe, G, at the top, to which may be joined the appropriate connecting-pipes from any 'hot-water-circulating apparatus. It is perfo.- rated on both sides, as hereinafter described, to receive the tubes D', and has two openings, E E, through which the gaseous products of combustion pass from the fire-place into the smoke-chamber. In order to insure the requisite strength to resist interior pressure, the feeder is so chambered and shaped eXteriorly as to consist, in fact, of a series of parallel vertical tubes, aa, having lateral communication with each other and with the inlet and outlet pipes B and C.

D D, Ste., are tubes projecting from the feeder A, into which they are inserted by taper screw-joints, their outer ends being closed and their inner ends opening into the tubular spaces a a.. In each of the tubes D D is an interior tube, d, open at both ends, and projeeting a little way beyond the tube D into the feeder A. The tubes D and d are more clearly shown in the enlarged section, Fig. 4. Being thusrendered self1circulating, they may be inserted in any of the tubular spaces in the feeder A; but the ends which we have in view are best accomplished by disposing them in the inanner shown.

lhere is a large cylindrical vessel or drum, L, which serves as a separator, a reservoir for water and steam. In order to insure a proper circulation of water between the drum L and the feeder A, two separate channels of co1n1nunicationone for the upward and another for the downward current-are obviously necessary, and these are provided in the manner shown in the figures. The outlet 2 ROLISS pipe C is, ineffect, extended downward by the l enlargement of a portion or an increase in the thickness nearly to the bottom of the feeder. Within the pipe C is an interior pipe, G', open at the bottom and extending upward into the drum L, where it branches into the horizontal pipe C2, the open ends of which are near the ends of the drum. The drum is furnished with a safety-valve, water-gage, and the usual accessories of a steam-boiler, and the watersurface maybe at any desired height above the pipe G2, according as the supply of water is varied.

Upon the front side of the feeder is the furnace or fire-place G, the sides and roof of which are inclosed by tubes D D2, placed near enough together to intercept. most of the ra' diant heat of the re and protect the surrounding brick-work. Similar tubes may also be introduced under the fire, so as to form a water-tube grate; but in general we prefer to use grate-bars of the ordinary kind, as shown. Into the back and opposite side of the feeder are introduced other tubes, D D, which occupy the greater part of the space H (which for convenience7 sake we call the smoke-chamber) behind the feeder. These tubes in the rear constitute the major part of the boilersurface and very effectively abstract the heatl from the gaseous products of the fire, which' pass between and among the tubes on their downward passage toward the chimney-flue. The door I at the rear end of the boiler gives easy access to the tubes for the purpose of inspection or for the removal of soot. The firedoor J and ash-pit door K are not in any way peculiar.

The other details of construction do not require further description; but as regards the inclosure of the boiler we remark that, although we have shown the manner of setting in brick-work, (which is generally preferable,) we intend in certain cases to substitute a covering of metal plates.

The operation is as follows: The tubes in front of the feeder A are exposed to the radiantheat of the fire, and those behind it to the hot gaseous products passing from front to rear through the openings E E. The water to be heated flows into the feeder through the pipe B and upward and outward through the pipe C, its upward movement through the feeder being interrupted and retarded by its lateral deflection and circulation through the tubes d d into the tubes D D, the water in which, in consequence of its higher temperature and lesser gravity,1iows into the feeder,its place being supplied by the cooler water, which liows back from the feeder through the interior tubes, d d. In this manner, -liowing firstthrough the lower tubes and then through the next above, and so on successively to the top, it receives new increments of heat at every defiection until it flows outward through the pipe C.

It will be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 that the drinn is accelerated at or above the point of ebullition by bubbles of steam, which lessen the gravity of the upward current. ln this state of dilatation the water fiows upward from the feeder through the pipe C into the drunnwhcre the steam-bubbles disengage themselves and rise to the upper part of the drum, while the water, subsiding toward the ends of the drum. flows back through the pipes C2 and C to the lower part of the feeder, and so on continuously, the direction of the currents being indicated by arrows.

The form which we prefer when our apparatus is only used for heating water is shown in Figs. (i, 7 and 8; but the form shown in the preceding figures, with the entire provision for separating the steam, can be used for heating water, if preferred; but the drum and its connections will be of little, if any, service.

Our method of fastening the tubes to a common receptacle by taper screw-joints at one end'(their opposite ends being free) is remarkably simple and expeditious, allowing each tube to'be screwed into place independently, to be afterward tightened if necessary, or rcmoved if found defective. y

Our boiler is not liable to injury from the unequal expansion of any of its parts. Vith a feeder of given dimensions the size and capacity of the boiler may be largely varied without increasing the number of parts or joints by simply varying the length of the tubes. So, also, by a change of proportions it may be readily adapted to the conditions or peculiarities of the service to which it is to be applied-as, for example, the fire-place may be made longer or shorter without altering the length of the tubes in the smoke-chamber; so, also, the tubes in the smokechamber may be indefinitely extended (to obtain a more or lessperfect abstraction of heat from the gaseous products) without regard to the dimensions of the fire-place. When employed as asteam-boiler,the main receptacle for water and steam is not exposed to the action of the iire, -and is consequently not liable to injury in case the water should fall toolow. Nothing more hurtful could happen than the rupture of one of the tubes, or one of the small tubular chambers in the feeder. None of these features are believed to be novel or peculiar to our boiler when considered separately, but only in our combinations defined below.

The boiler is peculiarly adapted to be made wholly of cast-iron, which, on accountof its ability to resist corrosion in cellars, greenl houses, and other damp places Where boilers this class of are usually placed, is a more suitable material than Wrought-iron.

Having thus described our invention, We do not claim as new the -use of Water-tubes in combination with a common receptacle or feeder for the purposes herein set forth, when ysuch receptacle consists of a single vessel Without subdivided water spaces or channels. Nor do We claim the use of one tube within another for the purpose of causing a circulation' of Water in the tubes; but

Ve claiml.' The Waterwvall or feeder A, having interior passages adapted to convey Water to and from the tubes D D, with strong connections between such passages, giving strength to endure pressure, in combination with tubes free to expand and contract, connected substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. The tubes D DDZ, arranged on opposite sides of the feeder Athat is to say, those tubes which are designed to inclose the fireplace and receive the radiant heat of the lire fixed into the frontside, and those tubes which are to be acted upon by the gaseous products of the fire into the back side of the feeder, as specified.

3. In combination with a cast-iron boiler substantially of the character herein specified, i

the internal circulating-pipes, d d, arranged in the horizontal pipes D D, and adapted to serve y relatively to the other parts and connections, as herein set forth. y

4. The combination of the feederand tubes with the drum or receptacle L, adapted for 

